Persistent cold and cough

[Nanno]

Well, we woke up to freezing temperatures and thickly falling snow yesterday morning, and my goats were very, very snotty. All the babies (including Finn) were plastered with snot, which got stuck full of hay and straw, so it looked like they were all sporting big, bushy beards. Snickers could hardly breathe. It was quite pathetic. That's when I suddenly remembered the Naxcel in my freezer left over from Petunia's mastitis. I gave each of them a shot yesterday and this morning and they are very much improved. I'll continue that tomorrow, then the vet recommended three days off, then three more days on since he said sometimes it comes back with a vengeance and we want to wipe it out completely.

All the older goats who had it looked bad yesterday morning after a night of cold, wet weather, but after cleaning their noses they all sounded ok. In fact, Petunia, who came in looking worse than ever, cleaned up better than anyone. Once I removed the mucous her breathing sounded perfectly clear for the first time since she got sick. This morning her cough was gone and she came in with a clean nose for the first time in two weeks. Cuzco, Pac-Man, and Nubbin had relapses yesterday but are much improved today. It's supposed to get up into the 80's all week, so hopefully everyone will get well in the warm weather.

That cold snap was crazy! I wore shorts on Thursday, then a cloud rolled over us Thursday night and soaked everything and chilled us all to the bone. It snowed for four hours or so on Friday and the cold damp lasted through Friday night. And this morning we woke up to bright sunshine and shorts weather. I don't mind cold, but I could do without these mad temperature swings!

[Taffy]

Wow, I'm glad you remembered the Naxcel in your freezer. How are all of the goats doing today? I remember living in Colorado and the crazy weather we'd get in the fall and spring. One minute nice the next snowing!

[Nanno]

Everyone is doing better today. All the girls look great. Nubbin still has a slight cough but no crud, and Petunia appears to be perfectly well. All the babies still have snot, but it's clear again and they are coughing less. Everyone had an amazing appetite this morning and were bouncing off the walls and begging to learn tricks, so I think they must be feeling pretty good. Cuzco still had a crusty nose, but he got very ornery with me and forgot his gate manners, so he must not be feeling too poorly. He had plenty of energy to chase babies all over the pen this morning too. Hopefully we're over the hump.

[Taffy]

Glad to hear everyone is better! Did any of them have a temp with this crud?

[sydneyjd]

Great to hear Nanno!!

[Nanno]

Glad to hear everyone is better! Did any of them have a temp with this crud?

Funny enough, no! And no one lost their appetite or got lethargic or anything. The only time anyone was "down in the dumps" was Friday when we had that cold, wet, miserable weather and the babies all looked sad and obviously didn't feel good, but they still never lost their appetites. I didn't take temps that day though--it was too cold and all any of us wanted was to go straight back to bed!

[Nanno]

So a follow-up with this persistent pneumonia... I've been struggling with this crud for the last three months. Petunia and Nubbin had it in September, then Pac-Man and Cuzco got it after our vacation in October. Finally, the last ones to get it are now Jezebel and Delilah (who I started on penicillin this morning). Pac-Man got it the worst and couldn't seem to shake it even after a round of penicillin. It improved but never really went away. Cuzco has always had sinus and lung issues since the time he got chased by coyotes 2 1/2 years ago so I don't really worry about him unless it gets noticeably bad, but he's been a little wet-sounding for a month.

Snickers though... Snickers has had me worried. He has had this nastiness since early August, which is three months now. Although he's been growing normally, had a good appetite, lots of energy, etc., he's never NOT had a cough and runny nose! Sputnik would get it off and on. The last thing we tried was Draxxin. That knocked Sputnik's sickness out for good. He's been healthy, dry, and cough free since the first shot. Snickers didn't improve at all even after the second round of Draxxin. Made no difference at all! Since none of the vet's antibiotics were making even the slightest difference I decided to go herbal. I ordered a big bottle of "Immune Support Tincture" from Molly's Herbals along with a bag of "Breathe Easy" herbal mixture. The IST was very expensive and I was suspicious because there are a lot of so-called natural remedies out there that don't do any good at all, but this had good reviews.

Well, I got them in last weekend and started Pac-Man and Snickers on the stuff and I have to say I'm impressed. Pac-Man is totally dry for the first time in a month and Snickers is not quite dry, but his cough is gone and he no longer sounds like Darth Vader when he breathes. He's never NOT been wheezy and asthmatic-sounding since August, so I'm absolutely delighted to finally hear him breathing normally. His constantly runny nose has been almost completely dry and snot-free for the last couple of days even during this horrible cold spell. I'm also giving Snickers the Breathe Easy herbs in his morning grain. Cuzco is getting the Breathe Easy herbs (when he'll eat them) and he's sounding good right now too. I wish I could give this stuff to Jezebel and Delilah now that they've come down with the crud, but I don't have a lot and I'm saving it for Snickers. It's too expensive to use for anything but a last resort. But I just wanted to share that I think this stuff is really working!

I'm going to keep Snickers on the IST for another week, and I'll post again to let you all know if the healing remains permanent or if he gets sick again once he's off it. I really hope this does the trick. It's way past time he was over this, and I'm tired of him passing it around to my other goats! I think he gave it to Jezebel when he escaped into the girls' pen last week when she was in heat, then she gave it to Delilah.

[Alicia]

Wow. What a struggle. Glad to hear they are recovering. Wil be waiting for the update.

[Taffy]

I'm interested to see how the natural herbs work long term. My goats all passed the same sounding thing around last year and the Draxxin took care of it. With goats it's just like sending your kids back to school - if one gets it they're all going to get it!

[Nanno]

Maybe I spoke too soon. Snickers was snotty and a little bit wheezy again this morning. Maybe his kind of sickness really likes warm weather (the temperature rose 40 degrees during the night). These dramatic temperature swings have to be really hard on the immune system, especially one that's already weak.

On the plus side, Jezebel sounds better today. It's hard to tell with Delilah because she was barely sick to begin with.